1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to golf bags, and more particularly to golf bags with support stands wherein a pair of legs are movable between their extended position and their retracted position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, there have been proposed various golf bags which have legs movable between their extended and retracted positions. Such type of golf bags are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,676,464 and 4,921,192. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,464 disclosed a golf bag with an integral stand which comprises a pair of legs pivotally mounted at the upper ends thereof on the upper portion of golf bag, a pair of shoulder pads connected at the upper ends thereof to the uppermost ends of the legs, respectively, and a pair of clamps fixedly mounted to the lower ends of the shoulder pads and adapted to fit around and slide along the legs, respectively. As the shoulder pads are lifted for carrying the golf bag, the clamps slide upwardly along the legs, thereby causing the legs to be retracted. On the other hand, the shoulder pads are free, the lower ends of the shoulder pads made of an elastic material such as nylon codes are extended by virtue of their elasticity, so that the clamps slide and push the legs, thereby causing the legs to extend in order to function as a stand. Thus, this construction has improved convenience in use, over the prior arts, because the legs are automatically retracted in carrying the golf bag and automatically extended in using or storage thereof.
However, this construction has inconvenience in storage, since even in storage, the legs are automatically extended. Also, to carry or store the golf bag under the condition of extending the legs causes the necessity of large space, thereby the transportation efficiency to be decreased. Furthermore, the construction should have a base member of special shape which makes impossible to apply the construction to most commonly used golf bags.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,192, a front half portion of the base of the bag is formed inclinedly so that as the inclined base portion is brought into contact with the ground, a vertically extending actuating rod, which is disposed at the side of bag adjacent the inclined base portion and is movable upwardly and downwardly, is lifted to extend legs. This construction also have the disadvantage that it can not be used in general types of golf bags, because of requiring the inclined base. Furthermore, this inclined base causes the disadvantage that the golf bag falls down easily, in that the ground contact area thereof is only a part of the bottom surface of the base. In the case that golf clubs are contained in the golf bag, it is difficult to maintain the golf bag at its upright position, because only the horizontal surface of the base should support the heavy weights of golf clubs. As a result, the golf bag is naturally maintained at its inclined position where the inclined surface of the base is in contact with the ground and legs are maintained at their extended position. Consequently, the golf bag can be hardly stored at its upright position under the condition of containing golf clubs therein. Large storage is also needed, in that in storage, the legs are naturally maintained at their extended position.
In the above-mentioned construction, there is also a disadvantage of requiring a special inner construction which prevents handles of golf clubs contained in the bag from sliding along the inner inclined surface of the base at the upright position of the bag.
Although above-mentioned patents are mainly intended for improving the stability of golf bag at the extended position of the legs, by increasing the ground contact area of the base, the constructions required therefor rather causes another serious disadvantages mentioned above.
In order to overcome the disadvantages encountered in the above-mentioned patents, an improved golf bag has been proposed in the Korean Utility Model Application Nos. 90-2102 filed by the applicant on Feb. 26, 1990. The golf bag comprises a L-shaped actuating member provided at the lower end of a vertical movable member operatively connected to support legs. As the golf bag is tilted to allow golf clubs to be easily removed and reinserted into the bag, the L-shaped actuating member is lifted up, in virtue of the weight of tilted bag, thereby causing the legs to be extended.
When the golf bag having the above construction is carried or stored, it can be maintained in its upright position, thereby enabling its occupied space to be minimized. In use, legs are extended only by the force generate as the golf bag moves to its tilted position, without any manipulation, so that the golf bag can be stably maintained in its tilted position. In the above-mentioned construction, however, the vertical movement length of the actuating member may vary depending on the ground condition, thereby causing the legs to be extended excessively or insufficiently. Furthermore, the L-shaped actuating member may be easily damaged or transformed. The damaged or transformed actuating member makes the overall support stand useless. There is also disadvantages of complicated construction and expensive manufacture cost.